Posts Tagged ‘Bryan Colangelo’

September 25, 2016 · 11:40 PM ET

HANG TIME, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are holding Media Day on Monday, but Nerlens Noel didn’t want to wait to get some of his thoughts on the record.

The Sixers are finally looking to take a step forward after three years at or near the bottom of the standings. But there’s an imbalance to all the young talent that Sam Hinkie accumulated before stepping down as general manager in April.

And now, with Joel Embiid finally ready to play more than two years after being drafted, there doesn’t seem to be enough playing for Embiid, Noel and Jahlil Okafor at the center position.

Noel could conceivably play power forward, but the Sixers were terrible (outscored by 20 points per 100 possessions) with Noel and Okafor on the floor together last season, and rookies Ben Simmons and Dario Saric need minutes as skilled four men.

New Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo has acknowledged that the Sixers can’t go on forever with all three of Embiid, Noel and Okafor. But in a recent podcast with Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Colangelo said that he’s not compelled to make a move right away.

The 76ers center wants clarity about his future. He loves Philadelphia and his Sixers teammates. But after three years of watching his team tank, after years of wondering how he fits in, Noel said Sunday he needs for his current situation to change.

“I think it’s just silly . . . this situation that we are in now with three starting centers,” Noel said on the eve of the Sixers’ media day. “With the departure of [former general manager and president] Sam Hinkie, I would have figured that management would be able to set something done this summer.”

…

Noel said he wasn’t speaking negatively about the team’s other starting-caliber centers, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. Nor was he speaking for them.

“Don’t get me wrong. We all get along great on the court and off the court,” Noel said. “But at the end of the day, it’s like having three starting quarterbacks. It doesn’t make any sense.”

However, he was adamant that his feeling would not affect his performance.

“I’m here to do my job and play as hard as I can play for the city of Philadelphia,” Noel said. “I’ve always love the fans from the jump. It’s probably one of the realest cities in the country with just genuine passion and love for the sport.”

September 22, 2016 · 9:16 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1:Bird says Paul George going nowhere — Larry Bird drafted Paul George and has helped him blossom into an All-Star and the foundation of the Pacers franchise. Now the team president says he has no intention of letting George play anywhere but Indiana with a flat declaration that the team is ready to step up and pay the forward whatever it takes. Bird told the Indianapolis Star that the ball is in George’s hands:

The Indiana Pacers president wants to sign George to a max contract – and he’ll do it as soon as his star player is ready.

“I know he don’t want to talk about it all year and I don’t either,” Bird said. “We want Paul here and we know what it’s going to cost and what it’s going to take. If Paul wants to get a deal done, we will. It’s a max deal. There’s no others, so there’s no use talking about it. If he wants it, he’s got it.”

George would not discuss his contract situation Wednesday but is expected to give an update Monday during the team’s media day. Before George left for the Summer Olympics in August, he had conversations with Bird and the front office about his renegotiation options. George said then that the conversations were a good sign, but that a new deal was not close to being reached.

George, 26, is entering the prime of his career and is under contract for $18.1 million this upcoming season. He is set to earn $19.3 million next season with a player option for $20.5 million in 2018-19, according to HoopsHype.com. George can decline the player option and sign a four-year extension beginning Sunday, as Houston Rockets star James Harden did earlier this summer.

***

No. 2:Brooks not sure if Wall will be ready — With just days before the start of his first training camp as coach of the Wizards, coach Scott Brooks says he is not sure if All-Star point guard John Wall will be healthy enough to go. Following a pair of offseason knee surgeries, Wall has been cautiously preparing for the 2016-17 season, according to the Washington Post:

When asked if Wall would be available for the Wizards’ first training camp practice, Tuesday on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Brooks expressed uncertainty, though he didn’t appear too concerned at this point.

“Don’t know that but he’s doing some one-on-one, he’s doing some three-on-three. Not really worried about that,” Brooks said. “Like all of our athletes, I want them to be ready but he’s definitely moving towards that direction.”

Before arriving for his meeting at The Post, Brooks said he had watched Wall that morning in a workout. Wall, who had two knee operations this offseason, has progressed from playing against younger assistant coaches to facing off against teammates, going one-on-one for roughly 25 minutes. In spite of the improvement, Brooks hesitated to provide a date when Wall will be cleared for five-on-five contact.

“I don’t like to put a timetable [on it] because if he doesn’t meet it [then] we’re saying, ‘Oh, he’s still hurt,’ ” Brooks said. “He’s improving. His body looks great [but] his conditioning is going to be behind.

“Once you step into an NBA practice, the level goes way up,” Brooks continued. “Especially in a training camp situation where you have guys trying to make it, guys trying to fight for minutes, trying to fight for starting jobs, but we have to make sure [about Wall] because that’s when things can go sideways. I saw him this morning for an hour, he looked great, but I don’t know -– we’ll find out soon.”

***

No. 3:Colangelo denies shopping big men — Despite all the talk, rumors and his own previous statements that have filled the offseason, Sixers general manager Bryan Colangelo says he has not been shopping Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor or Joel Embiid as the team faces a logjam of big men for the upcoming season. In a wide-ranging interview with The Vertical, Colangelo said he is now comfortable letting things play over 2016-17:

“Making a statement that absolutely something will be done is not necessarily the case,” Colangelo said during the podcast, which was released Wednesday morning. “I think what I said over the course of the summer is there is no doubt that we got three talented players. It’s a high-class problem to have.” He appeared to back off the absolutely-not-comfortable statement. Colangelo pointed out that the unknowns regarding the three centers’ health – in particular, Embiid (foot) – put the Sixers in a situation in which they will entertain trade discussions if they make sense.

“But I never felt compelled that we have to do something, because it will work itself out over the course of time,” he said. “Some of it will work itself out with contract negotiations and free agency. There’s different things that are staggered in terms of time line.”

“First up, Nerlens Noel. Second up, Joel Embiid. Third would be Okafor, in terms of contract staggering. So there’s some of that that’s in play.”

June 29, 2016 · 4:25 PM ET

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — There’s no pressure on Brett Brown and Ben Simmons, all they have to do is oversee and inspire a basketball revival in a basketball-loving city.

No pressure. No pressure at all for the head coach and new face of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Well, there’s actually a ton of pressure on Brown and Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s NBA Draft. But they know that, each of them having signed on for hoops renaissance engineering duties in the City of Brotherly Love. Whatever plan was in place before under Sam Hinkie has changed with the Colangelo‘s (father and boss man Jerry and son and GM Bryan) at the controls now. But make no mistake, there is a plan.

An abundance of young talent (Simmons, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric in particular) has to be molded into a team capable of climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement. And it’s Brown’s responsibility to guide these youngsters through the ups and downs of this process.

Everyone involved knows it’ll be a bumpy ride early on and there’s no guarantee this young core will remain intact long enough to make it to their first training camp together. But there’s a glimmer of hope now that, quite frankly was not there before Simmons became a very real possibility with that No. 1 pick.

We dig deep with Brown on the young man from Down Under charged with leading the hoops renaissance in hoops-mad Philly and much more on Episode 241 of The Hang Time Podcast.

May 10, 2016 · 8:35 AM ET

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Green on Blazers: ‘Of course I think they’re done’ —Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry not only came back last night, he came back and delivered the greatest overtime scoring performance in NBA lore. His 17 points in the extra session buoyed the Warriors to a 132-125 win over Portland in which Curry finished with 40 points overall. But lost in that epic game was a stellar performance by Draymond Green (21 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals) that put the Blazers in a 3-1 series hole. After the win, Green didn’t hold back on thinking this series — and Portland — was done for now, writes Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com:

Golden State All-Star forward Draymond Green did not mince words when asked about the Portland Trail Blazers’ chances in the aftermath of their Game 4 loss to the Warriors on Monday night.

After Golden State’s 132-125 overtime win, which gave the Warriors a 3-1 advantage in the Western Conference semifinals, Green was asked whether he thought the Blazers were done.

“Do I think they’re done? Of course I think they’re done,” he said.

“If I don’t think they’re done, I don’t know who else is going to think it,” he continued. “We’re going home with a 3-1 lead. It’s up to us to close it out. And I trust my teammates, I trust our team to come out ready to go and close this series out. Of course I think they’re done. It’s time for us to close the series. We did what we needed to do; we came on the road and got one win. We took care of home court. Now it’s time for us to do it again.”

…

Blazers star Damian Lillard said before Green’s remarks that they aren’t done fighting.

“We want to go out there and make sure they respect us, make sure they understand it’s not going to be what everybody thinks it’s going to be,” Lillard said. “It’s not going to be no rolling over, it’s not going to be no out here being scared, it’s not going to be any of that.”

Green also was asked about a prediction of victory for Monday night’s game.

“I didn’t predict that. I told you we were going to win,” he said.

He said he wasn’t worried about giving the Blazers extra motivation.

“I wanted to give them bulletin-board material,” he said.

…

“It wasn’t no disrespect to [the Blazers],” he said. “It was more so at my guys to make our guys respond to what I’m saying.”

April 13, 2016 · 9:06 PM ET

CHICAGO – Regardless of what one thinks of the job Sam Hinkie did in Philadelphia – dredging, dredging and dredging some more with his notorious “Process” that never advanced beyond a foundation pour – the 76ers’ former president and GM was working within the rules of the system.

To avoid getting stuck in the middle of the standings, Philadelphia under Hinkie opted to lose big – “tank” is the indelicate term for it these days – in order to improve his franchise’s draft-lottery odds and eventually get the bounce of accumulated young talent.

So when Jerry Colangelo, the longtime NBA owner and impresario turned consultant to the 76ers, met with reporters before the season finale at United Center Wednesday, the question was put to him: If a system encourages teams to win by losing, isn’t that a message to the league that the system needs an overhaul?

Colangelo deftly finessed his answer.

“I think historically in sports, not just basketball, teams have positioned themselves to draft people. To win certain games – call it strategy,” said Colangelo, who knew of such things dating back to 1969, when his Phoenix Suns were hopeful of drafting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – until losing a coin flip with Milwaukee.

“When a system is promoted somewhat like we had in Philadelphia, that existed [to a degree] that I don’t think will continue to exist going forward, it’s more about ‘Let’s do it in a systematic way, to use the assets, build a team.’ And there is a fundamental way to do that.”

Boil it down and it’s pretty clear: Tanks but no tanks. Those days are over in Philadephia.

In his first extended public comments since Hinkie’s resignation last week, Colangelo – brought in by ownership to oversee a rebuilding that struggled to find traction – disputed reports that he ran off Hinkie while embracing a reconfiguration of the front office that now is headed by his son, Bryan Colangelo.

“What happened here is, Sam had a plan,” the elder Colangelo said. “He accumulated a lot of assets. Many of those assets are in place. There’s also been draft picks over the last three years and judgment as to what that looks like, and what kind of return you get on those individuals.

“But the combination of what’s there in place, Sam should always be credited for accumulating those assets. There’s no doubt about that. But there’s a lot of work to put those assets to work.

“And then when you make selections, you’ve got to be right on the selections. And it’s pretty hard to have an open-ended situation because at some point you’ve got to win. So the attitude is, we want to win.”

In particular, Colangelo took exception to speculation that he had leaked Hinkie’s philosophical, 13-page resignation letter, a development that reportedly embarrassed Hinkie when his private thoughts about the team, the vaunted “process” and his decision to step down were made public. Colangelo said he received Hinkie’s letter on his phone at the same time as the team’s multiple owners and said “a national writer” claimed to have a copy within five minutes.

“Email. All the owners got it and I did,” Colangelo said, adding that he was home in Phoenix preparing for a speaking engagement. “So I started reading it to my wife. When I saw ‘resignation,’ that came out of the blue. Totally out of the blue.

“It took me a long time to read it. I didn’t quite understand all of it. Ya know I went to [the University of] Illinois… I put the phone down, went up and changed and went on my merry way.”

Of Hinkie’s decision to resign, Colangelo said: “His intelligence is off the charts. And the analytical part of it is off the charts. He’s a good man. He’s a good guy. But he felt that he was hired to do a job and he had a couple of roles as president and GM. And if that was going to change, then he just didn’t feel comfortable sticking with that. I respect that.”

Colangelo has maintained that he stepped back from Philadelphia’s hiring process even before his son’s name surfaced first to work alongside Hinkie, now to replace him. Bryan Colangelo has a cupboard far less bare than the one Hinkie inherited. Or any that Jerry Colangelo took over, as it turns out.

“It’s a great opportunity when you have assets,” the father said. “Look, everything I’ve ever done has been start-up. And when you usually start up a professional sports team, they don’t give you a lot of assets. You usually draft last in the Draft. The guys you get in expansion aren’t guys you would write home about. It takes a while to build a product. It takes a lot of time.”

Time was up on Hinkie’s approach, that’s all.

“Here’s where I am on all of this; I’m just kind of covering it because that’s what you wanted to hear,” Colangelo said. “But I’m done with it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I think all that’s important is that we now have someone in place who I think is going to do a great job for the Philadelphia 76ers. He threw himself in immediately. And it’s exciting in terms of what lies ahead for all the right reasons. The draft picks, the free agency, the things that already have been put into motion.”

David Aldridge, TNT analyst:Yes. There’s nothing Bryan Colangelo can do to deal with the nepotism charges that will surely come, but he’s established himself over the years as one of the better GMs in the league, and he’ll do a good job with the resources Sam Hinkie is leaving him: Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Robert Covington and a whole bunch of first-round picks in the ’16 Draft. I have no doubt the 76ers will begin to resemble the Suns of Mike D’Antoni (hey, isn’t that Mike D’Antoni on the Sixers’ bench?) in philosophy if not in personnel, at least just yet. A successful ’16-’17 season would have Embiid getting through the season healthy, Saric coming over from Europe and contributing, a rookie point guard (Kris Dunn Kris Dunn Kris Dunn) who could develop into something special and 25-30 wins.

Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: Wonder of wonders, the best guy to take over the Sixers just happens to be related to the big-rep consultant they hired in search of a fix. I’m not big on nepotism, outside of Mom & Pop shops and Mumford & Sons, so maybe I’m a little too skeptical of Bryan Colangelo as turnaround artist. But heck, Philadelphia had to do something. In a league that has gone away from traditional post play, the Sixers have stocked up on big guys and still don’t have the proper trendy perimeter parts around them. Maybe Colangelo can parlay the roster’s assets into a better mix, maybe he has to embark on a rebuilding from the rebuild. Here’s a low bar for 2016-17 success: Try not to lose 60 games for a change. The Sixers have averaged 66 over the past three seasons.

Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: Yes. Taking the baton from his dad, Jerry, Bryan has a solid track record and now he’s been left a cupboard full of very nice assets by the departed Sam Hinkie. A successful 2016-17 season is one where the Sixers get back into the business of actually trying to win and improve. More important than setting a bar at, say, 25 wins is getting Joel Embiid finally in uniform and playing, getting Dario Saric finally in the NBA, Jahlil Okafor growing up and making the most of their lottery pick in June, then convincing some veteran talent to take some of that huge money available under the salary cap join the cause.

Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: Yes, good move. Bryan has the credentials to get past the claim that his hire was a nepotism pick because his father had a big role in the decision. I’m not guaranteeing a successful run as a GM, but I will guarantee he has credibility, is positioned to be successful and would eventually have been hired somewhere if not Philadelphia. There is no single definition of forward progress for Sixers fans. Getting to the mid-20s in the wins would be a good step based on what we know now, but I’ll hold off on that number until we have a better idea of the roster. For now, successful looks like a good outcome on the Okafor-Noel decision, Embiid finally getting healthy, adding at least one experienced contributor and encouraging signs from the 2016 lottery pick and Dario Saric as he comes from Europe.

Shaun Powell, NBA.com: Good move getting Colangelo, if only because he was the best among the unemployed. He’s a two-time Executive of the Year choice, so clearly he knows the turf, brings contacts and has had success. He’ll also reap the benefits of Sam Hinkie‘s pain, fair or not, provided he doesn’t screw up all the assets Hinkie left behind. A successful 2016-17 has a mature and improved Okafor, and a veteran addition who’s still in his productive prime, and a tight Rookie of the Year fight between Joel Embiid and whomever the Sixers take with their 2016 first-rounder.

John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Time will tell. Colangelo has an eye for talent and put together the core that has set the Raptors’ franchise record for wins each of the last three years. But his ratio of good moves vs. bad moves isn’t necessarily better than that of Sam Hinkie, who was pushed aside because it took too long for his plan to come to fruition. A successful ’16-17 for Philly would include a young core that looks more like a team. The pieces need to start fitting together (there needs to be a playmaker or two to complement the frontcourt talent) and we need to see progress from Joel Embiid (he needs to play), Jahlil Okafor (he needs to defend) and Dario Saric (he needs to orient himself to the NBA).

Sekou Smith, NBA.com:Good move and potentially more than that, if Colangelo is able to craft a roster similar to the ones he put together in his previous stops. Success next season for the Sixers would include some tangible player development in youngsters like Nerlens Noel and Kahlil Okhafor and an actual Joel Embiid (in uniform and on the active roster) sighting. And, of course, whoever they use all of these assets on in the Draft showing up and making an immediate impact. The bar isn’t terribly high for Colangelo in his first season at the helm. No one’s asking for miracles. Just make the Sixers respectable and that’s more than enough for the first year.

Ian Thomsen, NBA.com: It’s a fascinating switch. Hinkie was almost idealistic in his longterm approach; Colangelo lives in the here and now. If he has money to spend (or an extra big man to trade) and a good player is available, then the deal is going to be made. Success will hinge entirely upon the health of Joel Embiid: If he is healthy and dynamic, then we are going to be talking about the rebirth of the center position between him, Karl-Anthony Towns, DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond. Because Embiid has the talent to change the outlook in Philadelphia – as Hinkie himself imagined.

Lang Whitaker, NBA.com’s All Ball blog: I mean, I don’t think it’s a bad move. I understand that the plan was to bottom out and then rebuild, but they started from the bottom and they are still there. From afar, it would seem that Hinkie was pretty good at the obtaining assets part of his job, and perhaps wasn’t as good at the talent evaluation part of the job. He leaves the Sixers with a ton of draft picks and, basically, nothing but upside. Which is a nice place for Bryan Colangelo to suddenly find himself. I don’t know if Hinkie was planning on starting the rebuilding process in earnest just yet, but The Process is out the window. I think at this point, any measure of progress beats process.

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Warriors locked in on history — All that’s left is 48 minutes. A mere 48 minutes and the Golden State Warriors will have produced the finest regular season in NBA history, surpassing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls they tied for the best win total ever with Sunday’s win San Antonio. As our very own Fran Blinebury wrote after the Warriors snapped the Spurs’ bid to record the first perfect home record in a season, this history-making season has washed over the league in waves:

History comes in waves, like the relentless sets of breakers that Golden State used to wash over the NBA in a record-setting 24-0 start to the season that planted the flag in the ground and seemed to lift the Warriors up above mere greatness and pushed them on this journey.

All those games and all those nights in all those cities when they took the floor feeling and knowing and playing like they were truly superior to the guys in the other uniforms and never let themselves forget that.

All those other nights when maybe they weren’t at their physical or mental peak and had to somehow find a way to get it done. Like just 24 hour earlier in Memphis when it took digging down deep in the final seconds to pull out a victory over an outmanned bunch of Grizzlies to keep the quest alive.

If these same two teams meet again in six weeks in the Western Conference finals, this game will mean nothing then. But that doesn’t make it mean nothing today.

“Obviously, we’re in the moment, enjoying the ride and the goal is to win a championship,” said Curry after scoring 37 points. “That’s what we’re playing for. But we put ourselves in a great position to end the season with a win and do something that no team has done in history, so that’s an amazing accomplishment.

“It’s kind of hard to step outside the locker room and understand the spotlight that comes with it or just the hoopla because we come out every night trying to win. But when you think about it, I guess, perspective, only two teams have done what we’ve done so far and hopefully Wednesday we can finish that off. It’s unbelievable.”

Despite the offer, even the wish from coach Steve Kerr, that the Warriors regulars might choose to rest up for the fast approaching playoffs, there was never a question that any of them would sit with their feet up.

“I tried to do it with the way I played and obviously the decision on resting or not was a pretty easy decision for me,” Curry said. “I’m not nursing any injuries, I don’t think putting myself in a position to be a step slow come the playoffs. So why not go out and take advantage of an opportunity that may never come again?”

Kerr, of course, is the link, having played for 20 years ago for the 72-10 Bulls.

History comes in memories.

“I thought as a player it seemed like a bigger deal because the players talk about it, think about it,” Kerr said. “We never talked about it as a staff here this year. It’s really a players’ reward, a players’ honor, a players’ record. They’re the ones that go out and play. It probably meant more to me back then personally. But to see the look on these guys faces knowing that they have a chance to break the record and at least they tied it, they’re pretty excited and that’s what’s great about coaching, when you see your team smiling and happy.”

***

No. 2: Spurs won’t dwell on latest loss to Warriors — The chance for history ended at the hands of the one team the San Antonio Spurs have not been able to solve this season. Their quest for the first undefeated home record in NBA history was blown away by a blitz from the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. But the Spurs will not let this latest loss to the Warriors, their third in four tries this season, linger. Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com provides some context for the Spurs:

The Warriors stopped cold San Antonio’s home winning streak at 39 games, while reaching historic win No. 72, marking the third time in four meetings — and second time in four nights — Golden State knocked off the Spurs. Still, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was satisfied with the team’s effort. He is confident that San Antonio’s experience mixed with a sharpened playoff focus, and a fresh game plan in late May could lift the Spurs over the Warriors when the stakes are highest in a potential Western Conference finals.

“We played a hell of a team, and I thought our aggressiveness, our attention to detail, was much better than [Thursday night’s loss at Golden State],” Popovich said. “They did a lot of good things out there. I’m really happy with how we performed.”

So instead of lamenting a loss they can’t get back, the Spurs choose now to focus on closing out strong in preparation for the playoffs.

“It’s a whole different ball game in the playoffs,” David West said when asked whether the Warriors now hold a psychological advantage, having defeated the Spurs three times in the regular season. “Hopefully, it will be another two months, or whatever it is, a month and a half, until we see them again. Our job is just to keep improving and prepare ourselves now for a tough first-round matchup against whomever; just keep developing who we are.”

The outing at the AT&T Center on Sunday played out much differently than Thursday’s 112-101 trouncing at Oracle Arena, yet San Antonio still managed to come up short despite making significant progress against the Warriors defensively.

“I think in Golden State for sure we were not sharp enough,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “Today we made a few mistakes. I think we played a good game. We were not good offensively. I’m not concerned. I was concerned after the Golden State game [on the road] because it was not us. I think a game like today can easily happen. We hadn’t lost one game at home the whole season. It can happen that you lose one against a team that is one of the best teams ever. We can’t start banging our heads against the wall and [saying], ‘Oh, we are terrible.’ It can happen.”

San Antonio slowed down the pace significantly in Sunday’s contest, giving Golden State its slowest paced game since defeating the Warriors 87-79 on March 17, according to research from ESPN Stats & Information. The Spurs also limited Golden State to an ice-cold shooting percentage of 35.1, while dominating the visitors in offensive rebounding 13-3. San Antonio’s 13 offensive rebounds in the first half go down as the most the club had snatched in a single half all season, not to mention the most the Warriors have allowed in any half over the past two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info. San Antonio’s supremacy on the offensive glass helped the Spurs outscore the Warriors 11-0 on second-chance points.

The problem is while administering suffocating defense and crashing the offensive glass, the Spurs managed to shoot even frostier (28.6 percent) than the Warriors. Then, as Golden State caught fire in the third quarter, going on a 12-0 run with Stephen Curry racking up 16 points for his 30th quarter of 15 points or more this season, San Antonio remained cold (34.3 percent shooting).

What’s more is the offensive rebounding subsided, too, with the Spurs grabbing just five more offensive boards in the entire second half.

“Our perimeter had a tough time making shots, that’s for sure,” Popovich said. “That was the problem offensively all night, but I couldn’t be more proud of them. Steph got away from us for a while, but a part of it was some bad shots. We lost our poise for about a three-minute period, and we were in constant transition, and he got away from us. That was the difference in the ball game. But I’m really proud of the guys what they did tonight.”

***

No. 3: Kobe Bryant reflects on his finals days — The finish line is in sight for Kobe Bryant. Tonight’s final game in Oklahoma City (8 ET, NBA League Pass) followed by Wednesday’s finale against Utah at Staples Center and that’s it, a 20 years of a Hall of Fame career comes to an end. In what has been a sobering and reflective season for one of the game’s all-time greats, there is finally a sense of relief and acceptance of his fate. Kobe didn’t go out chasing that sixth title, the way he had hoped. But as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical points out, Kobe is going out on his own terms:

Against all odds, Kobe Bryant goes home for goodbye on two feet, goes home for goodbye on the best terms he could’ve ever dictated.

“It feels so good,” Bryant told The Vertical. “For the last three years, I haven’t been able to do it. Achilles. Knee. Shoulder. Serious injuries. My preparation was right. I worked and worked for my body to be able to get through this.”

“Coming into the season, I had the concern: Could I make it all year?” Bryant told The Vertical. “I had the fear. But I embraced that fear, and then I let it go. I realized: I can’t control it. I prepare. I do all the work. If that happens, it happens. And I stopped thinking about it.”

All around, the boom mics hung over us. His documentary crew comes everywhere now, chronicling every interaction, every interview. For a moment, Bryant was still thinking about life on a contender. He is nodding his head, insisting this is true: “Listen, I believe this: On a better team, I could play a lot better. Physically, I know I could do so much more. I found that rhythm, that balance. But after three major injuries, to get to the end [healthy], this means the world to me.”

There are two stories to end this NBA regular season: The Warriors’ historic march to 73 victories, and Bryant’s historic uneven, unnerving final season. They’ll remember Bryant as one of the NBA’s great champions, remember a relentless pursuit of perfection. Oh, he’d love to be chasing 73 victories, but mostly he wishes he was pursuing that sixth NBA title.

Somewhere along the way, Bryant had to let go. There wouldn’t be winning this season. There would be bouquets. He’s never minded everyone watching him, everyone feting his greatness. So started the legacy tour, so started a long, slow trot around the bases. Nevertheless, Kobe Bryant let himself think for a moment about that Golden State-San Antonio game on Sunday night, about the parallel universe of winning ball that’s left his life.

Had the Lakers still been a contender – had everything not crumbled around him – Bryant swears this would all be so different, so much more suited to his persona.

“The ovations wouldn’t be here,” Bryant told The Vertical. “We’d be amidst cutthroat competition. In this season, I’ve been able to come up for air, take the blinders off, look around, soak it all in – and say thank you. Had we been competing for a championship, there’s no way I’d allow all this to happen. We’d have one goal in mind and that would be winning the championship.

“In the end, this wasn’t hard to accept. I can accept reality and move on.”

***

No. 4: Colangelo’s rebranding in Philadelphia already underway — Give Bryan Colangelo credit, he didn’t waste any time in his effort to change the narrative in Philadelphia. His rebranding of the situation with the Sixers began the moment he was introduced as the team’s new president of basketball operations Sunday. And if there is one thing Colangelo has learned in all of his years around the game, it’s that change at the fundamental level has to come immediately. David Murphy of Philly.com explains:

For all of the talk of the Sixers finally bringing in some real basketball men, the truth is that people like the Colangelos are, first and foremost, salesmen. They are billionaire whisperers, adept at convincing really rich people to entrust them with their capital. In 1999, Jerry published a book titled, How You Play the Game: Lessons for Life from the Billion-Dollar Business of Sports.

The elder Colangelo clearly succeeded at selling Harris and his partners on the need for a leader with a skill set that just happened to line up with the one his son offered. Bryan’s biggest theme during Sunday’s press conference was the need for the Sixers to build relationships throughout the league, one of many tacit references to Hinkie’s greatest perceived weakness.

Yet the logic starts to fall apart when you think about the fact that Ed Stefanski and Billy King were respected, personable executives who nevertheless were forced to overpay to keep their own players (Andre Iguodala) and to sign new ones (Elton Brand). Fact is, the Sixers are not an NBA destination, just like the Raptors weren’t when Colangelo was there (and when Chris Bosh left for the Heat).

Again, though, it comes down to messaging. As GM of the Suns, Colangelo “lured” Steve Nash away from Dallas in 2004, which sounds great, except “luring” really meant paying him $20 million more than any other team, including the Mavericks, who declined Nash’s request that they match the deal. When Colangelo attempted to bring Nash to Toronto in 2012, Nash leveraged Toronto’s three-year, $36 million offer into a three-year deal with the Lakers.

But, hey, it’s a relationship business, right?

Ironically, the failed pursuit of Nash is one of the reasons Colangelo has seen his legacy improve over the past few years as the Raptors have blossomed. Once he lost Nash, Colangelo traded a first-round pick for Kyle Lowry, who is now an anchor on one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. Nash, meanwhile, was an unmitigated disaster with the Lakers.

That’s not to say the Sixers’ new president will destroy whatever foundation Hinkie has laid over the past three seasons. Both Colangelo and Harris repeatedly insisted that the change in leadership would not result in a change in vision.

“This is not about a departure from a process,” Colangelo said.

What was it really about? Let’s answer in a form Hinkie might appreciate. As Plato once said, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

NEWS OF THE MORNING

No. 1: Spurs trying to solve Curry and vice versa — After three games this season, and with another showdown looming Sunday, it’s clear the Spurs have targeted Steph Curry as the player they must stop. That’s not exactly breaking news; Curry is the league’s leading scorer and the heavy favorite to win his second straight MVP. But the Spurs bring one of the league’s top defenses and can throw multiple bodies in Curry’s direction, starting with Tony Parker and Patty Mills and at times they might surprise Curry with Kawhi Leonard. Curry spoke about the Spurs on the eve of the final meeting between the teams before the playoffs with Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle …

Stephen Curry thinks he figured out something in Thursday’s meeting with the Spurs, and he’ll get a chance to test his theory when the Warriors play at San Antonio on Sunday.

After scoring 14 points on season lows in field-goal (4-for-18, 22.2 percent) and three-point (1-for-12, 8.3 percent) shooting in the Warriors’ 87-79 loss to the Spurs, the Warriors’ point guard bounced back with 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor in Thursday’s 112-101 win.

“I just watched the film and made adjustments based on how they played me in San Antonio and how I thought they’d probably continue,” Curry said before Saturday’s game against the Grizzlies. “Instead of searching for the three, I was trying to keep them off-balance by getting into the paint and making plays.

“I just slowed down, really. Any game where somebody makes crazy adjustments like that, you’ve got to be able to take your time and figure out how you’re going to attack that space. I didn’t do it well in San Antonio, but I made the proper adjustments last game.”

Curry is averaging 11.1 three-point attempts per game, but with the Spurs switching on pick-and-rolls and running him off the three-point line, Curry made a concerted effort to get into the lane.

He attempted only seven three-pointers Thursday, and two were prayers at the end of quarters. It was the eighth time all season that Curry attempted seven or fewer three-pointers.

“I think teams have mimicked what the Spurs did the last time we played them in San Antonio,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Teams really started jumping out at him and switching, so we’re seeing it more and more. They definitely have a plan, and they’re good at it. They’re obviously smart. To do something like that, you have continuity, understanding and togetherness, and they’re really good at it.”

Curry has gotten pretty good at handling it, too.

That’s one of the reasons that the entire basketball world will be tuned into Sunday’s game.

***

No. 2: Rockets’ brass will be evaluated at season’s end — With the Rockets qualifying as the heavy favorite to win the season’s most disappointing team award, are big changes coming? That question wouldn’t even be asked right around this time last season, when the Rockets were one route to an appearance in the Western Conference finals. But this season has been all sorts of hell, starting with the early firing of coach Kevin McHale and the failure to incorporate Ty Lawson into the lineup. It would be big news if Daryl Morey loses the GM job if only because Morey has a reputable track record. Anyway, owner Leslie Alexander must decide the fate of Morey and also interim coach JB Bickerstaff. Here is Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com …

Sources told ESPN that the Rockets believe every aspect of the organization — coaching staff, front office and, of course, their roster — must be subject to a thorough review in the wake of Houston’s slide to a 38-41 outfit that’s at serious risk to miss the playoffs after damaging losses this week to Dallas and Phoenix.

Houston won 56 games and reached the Western Conference finals last season.

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has publicly acknowledged that Bickerstaff — who replaced Kevin McHale in an interim role just 11 games into this season — would have to be assessed at season’s end.

Sources say Morey, whose contract runs through the 2017-18 season, ‎also faces some uncertainty in the wake of the Rockets’ struggles. Morey’s ever-bold approach to roster assembly won deserved kudos for bringing Harden (October 2012) and Howard (July 2013) to Houston in quick succession, but team chemistry has been a rising concern this season given the well-chronicled deterioration of the Harden-Howard relationship and the failed offseason gamble on guard Ty Lawson.

“You’re asking the wrong guy about that,” Morey told ESPN in a recent interview when asked about his job security. “That’s Mr. Alexander’s choice and all I do is my job every day. He makes that call.”

After a 4-7 start, Houston made the stunning decision to part ways with McHale, who had barely begun the first year of a new three-year extension.

Bickerstaff has fared better, going 34-34 in his interim role, but Houston’s defensive frailties and repeated inability to hold big leads have conspired to put the Rockets on par with the Chicago Bulls on the list of this season’s most disappointing teams.

Bickerstaff, for his part, says he has not yet commenced discussions with management about his job status.

“No, not at all, that’s not even a issue [or] a concern,” Bickerstaff said of his future prior to the Rockets’ loss to the Suns on Thursday night.‎

Folks bashed the Sixers for nepotism, immediately after learning it would be Bryan Colangelo. They brought up that he was unable to win an NBA championship during his stops as general manager of the Phoenix Suns and the Toronto Raptors.

And they delivered perhaps the lowest blow of all, mentioning that he drafted 20-year-old Italian Andrea Bargnani with the first overall selection in the 2006 NBA draft. Let’s just say making Bargnani the first European to be selected first overall didn’t pan out. He never lived up to the hype surrounding that pick and is on his third NBA team.

But what the disappointed folks don’t mention is that Bryan Colangelo is a two-time NBA executive of the year. The 50-year-old first won the award in 2005 with the Suns. His second award came in 2007 with the Raptors.

“If you are the Sixers, you should be really happy about this,” said a league executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Plus it will be a seamless transition with Jerry and his son. Everything will be on the same page.”
That wasn’t the case with Jerry Colangelo and Hinkie over the last four months.

But aside from Bargnani, Bryan Colangelo has been known for excelling while making aggressive moves.

He drafted Steve Nash 15th overall in the 1996 NBA draft and traded him to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998 in exchange for Pat Garrity, Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells, and a 1999 first-round pick that he used to select Shawn Marion.

He also drafted Amar’e Stoudemire ninth overall in the 2002 draft.

Some of his most noteworthy roster moves came during and after the 2003-04 season, when the team finished, 29-53.

In January 2004, he sent Anfernee Hardaway, Stephon Marbury, and Cezary Trybanski to the Knicks for Howard Eisley, Maciej Lampe, Antonio McDyess, Charlie Ward, Milos Vujanic, and 2004 and 2010 first-round picks. Then he signed Nash as a free agent that summer.

The following season, the Suns went 62-20 and lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals. Nash was named the league’s MVP, and Mike D’Antoni, now the Sixers’ associate head coach, was the NBA coach of the year.

That was the first of three Pacific Division titles and the first of back-to-back conference finals appearances for the Suns.

However, Bryan Colangelo wasn’t there to celebrate all that put in place due to a soured relationship with managing owner Robert Sarver, who bought the team from Jerry Colangelo.

So he took over the Raptors’ on Feb. 28, 2006. In 2006-07, the Raptors finished 47-35 and made their first playoff appearance in five seasons. It was also their first winning season since 2001-02.

Bryan Colangelo is also an architect of this season’s Raptors, who are the Eastern Conference’s second-best squad.

He selected DeMar DeRozan with the ninth pick of the 2009 draft. Colangelo hired Dwayne Casey as the head coach in June 2011. He drafted Jonas Valanciunas with the fifth pick of the 2011 draft two days later. Then, after drafting Terrence Ross with the eighth pick in 2012, he acquired Kyle Lowry in a trade with Houston Rockets in July 2012.

***

No. 4: Should losing teams rest players? — The Sacramento Kings are going nowhere except the draft lottery again, a fate that has been assured for weeks. However, that hasn’t stopped them from sitting players. DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo, among others, have “rested” as though they were veterans with minor ailments, awaiting for the playoffs to begin. Is that fair, especially since the NBA, beginning with this season, spaced games apart and reduced back-to-backs? The Kings are hardly the only non-playoff team to sit players for reasons other than injury; but some fans in Sacramento sounded off on it to Andy Furillo of the Sacramento Bee …

At 12:31 p.m. Thursday, the Kings put out a news release that said DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo would not play that night at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It attributed the planned absences of the star center and flashy point guard to their need for rest. The two must have really been tired, because they just got a night off Saturday in Denver and a night off the previous Monday in Portland.

Along with Rondo and Cousins, another young man at Sleep Train Arena on Thursday night was tired. His name is Terrence Zwane, and he was tired of big-money players resting on nights like Thursday, when he paid $300 to sit in the lower bowl.

“I don’t think it’s cool,” said Zwane, 26, a legal assistant who attends about 10 games a year.

Zwane reasoned, accurately, that the salaries of Cousins, who is making about $15.9 million this season, and Rondo, who punches the clock for $9.5 million, are largely responsible for his high cost for a good seat. The abilities of the two, of course, are the reason Zwane was willing to spend the money. Then he came to the game and they didn’t play, and the team didn’t even make the announcement that they were not going to play until seven hours before the game, when the two players were as healthy as could be reasonably expected for the 79th game of the season

Resting a player for one or two games over the course of a long season, “if you need to do that,” makes sense to Zwane. Otherwise, in instances such as Thursday, “It’s really pointless, especially when you are paying them big money and we are paying big money to watch them,” he said.

Without Cousins and Rondo, the Kings understandably lost to the Timberwolves 105-97. Maybe they needed Thursday off to ensure they would be rested enough to play in Saturday’s final game at Sleep Train Arena, which is expected to be filled beyond capacity to celebrate 28 seasons there.

After Thursday’s game, Kings coach George Karl was asked what he would say to the fans, if he could say anything, about paying big money to see the game and then having Cousins and Rondo miss it to rest.

Karl was the wrong guy to take the question. It should have been directed to general manager Vlade Divac, but Divac wasn’t on hand, so the coach gave it a shot.

“I’m old school,” Karl said. “I like playing every game like it means something.”

But in the modern NBA, “everybody’s doing it,” Karl said about giving guys days of rest when it appears to people like Zwane that they don’t really need it.

“Philosophically,” Karl said, “I can see the good in why you do it, and I can see philosophically why the fans should be upset, why they’re upset.”

In addition to holding Cousins and Rondo out of the Minnesota, Denver and Portland games, the playoff-eliminated Kings rested Kosta Koufos, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison in Tuesday’s loss at home to Portland.

As Karl said, it is popular for teams to dial back on playing time for those who have been pounding the floorboards fairly relentlessly since October. Most of the time, the decisions to rest players are made collectively – between the front office, coaching staff and players – although it’s not known how the decision was made by the Kings.

No. 1: Finishing with No. 1 overall seed remains Warriors’ goal — Tonight’s showdown with the San Antonio Spurs (10:30 ET, TNT) gives the Golden State Warriors a shot at reaching 70 wins. It’s also, perhaps, Step 1 in a four-game plan to reach an NBA-record 73 wins. But after yesterday’s practice, both coach Steve Kerr and center Andrew Bogut doubled-down on the notion that finishing the season strong — and with the NBA’s top overall seed — remains the goal. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle has more:

Yep, the Warriors spent Wednesday recalibrating their focus from chasing NBA history to merely completing a historic regular season by clinching the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

“Every day, it’s the same questions,” said Bogut, who was one of the few who stayed after Kerr told the players they could leave the practice facility following a video session. “Every day, it’s the same thing on TV. Every day, it’s the same article. Every day, it’s a new former player who has a comment. It’s just something you’ve got to deal with, but it’s no excuse.

“We’re going for the record, but if we don’t get it, it’s not the end of the world.”

…

The Warriors’ magic number for the top seed in the West and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs is two, meaning they would clinch it with a victory over the Spurs on Thursday.

“We’re still trying to get the No. 1 seed,” Kerr said. “… Let’s do that, and then worry about everything else later. … We’ll just try to win tomorrow and then figure out what’s next.”

…

They haven’t played consistently well in a month and haven’t played a full game of top-notch defense in at least as long. They lost for the first time at home in 55 regular-season games Friday and dropped another one Tuesday.

“I’m actually surprised this didn’t happen a while back,” Kerr said. “There’s a reason that this record has been standing for 20 years. It’s a hard thing to do. …

“It’s a miracle that we’ve gone this far without sort of hitting a bump in the road. … It’s just surprising for people out there — and maybe even our own guys — because this season has come almost too easily for us.”

…

The Warriors finish the regular season with a home game against Memphis on Wednesday. In between the games at Oracle Arena, they’ll have their first consecutive days off in almost six weeks following a back-to-back set in Memphis and San Antonio.

That should be enough to recapture the Warriors’ focus.

“Once you lose your focus, that’s when bad defense happens. That’s when turnovers happen. That’s when fouling happens,” forward Draymond Green said. “… I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily caught up in the hype, but I think we’ve gotten to the point where … we’re like, ‘All right, we’re kind of ready for the regular season to end.’

“When you’re talking about 82 games, you get bored of that after a while.”

April 6, 2016 · 9:26 PM ET

He took over a franchise that needed a facelift and proceeded to make every plastic surgeon in Beverley Hills jealous. Sam Hinkie spared nothing, especially victories, as he gutted the Sixers, cleared the salary cap and stockpiled draft picks in an extreme search to land a star and create a new foundation.

Well, a process that began prior to the 2013-14 season is still without an impact player but heavy on defeats, and winds of change last fall that created a changing of thinking in the front office ultimately chased Hinkie out of town.

He resigned Wednesday night, ending a reign of error — on the floor, anyway — and cited the scent of philosophical shift as the reason in the resignation letter, according to ESPN. Under Hinkie, this season the Sixers are assured of finishing with the worst record in the NBA once again, and they went 47-195 under Hinkie’s watch. his departure doesn’t come as a big surprise. Sixers ownership hired JerryColangelo last December to oversee the operation, essentially stripping Hinkie of final say in most if not all personnel matters.

In addition, Colangelo’s son Bryan is reportedly replacing Hinkie according to media reports. Bryan Colangelo served as an apprentice under his father in Phoenix, then served as GM there, then performed the same role in Toronto. Currently, the Raptors, sitting in second place in the East, have DeMarDeRozan, who was drafted by Colangelo; Kyle Lowry, whom Colangelo acquired in a trade; and coach Dwane Casey, hired by Colangelo.

While Hinkie’s philosophy earned many critics, especially when the losses multiplied and the Sixers failed to land the No. 1 pick in the draft or add significant help through free agency or trades, they’re flush with assets. Jahlil Okafor endured a somewhat troubled rookie season but is a talented big man nonetheless; injured big man Joel Embiid is expected to be healed in time for next season; Dario Saric awaits in the wings overseas; the Sixers will have the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick; and they own potentially seven first-rounders over the next three drafts, not including their own. In addition, their salary cap is free of heavy contracts and Philly will have ample room this summer, especially with the expected rise in the cap.

It’s very possible that the next GM will benefit from Hinkie’s work, provided that GM makes the right decisions with the assets in hand.